So Jimmy Eat World is touring in support of the 10th anniversary of their album Clarity. That would have been big news until a band called No Knife decided to reunite — after breaking up in 2003 — for a few stops on that tour. Prior to their separation, the San Diego, Calif., band released four albums in the late 90s and early 2000s, with Fire in the City of Automatons and Riot for Romance! being records every good music fan needs to own. We were honored and lucky enough to get the opportunity to talk with frontman/guitarist Mitch Wilson about the reasons behind this reunion, what they’ve been up to in their five year sabbatical, and how they’d be willing to play on Yo Gabba Gabba.

No Knife – Academy Flight Song
No Knife – Secret Handshake
No Knife – The Red Bedroom
No Knife – Brush Off

So it looks like you’re back together. Is this an official reunion or just a few shows here and there?
Tim Mays, the owner of the Casbah, contacted us to see about playing the 20th anniversary shows there. The Casbah is legendary in San Diego and Tim has done so much for the music scene in San Diego ever since I started going to shows. We used to call him “ten dollar Tim” when I was 15 because he had the audacity to charge ten bucks for a show with only 25 bands! So he has been largely responsible for putting on the shows that formed and shaped my musical education- from Bad Religion, Exploited, Bad Brains, English Dogs, 7 Seconds, and X in the 80s to Jesus Lizard, John Spencer, Nirvana, and Alice Donut in the 90s. It is still the`best place to see bands before they get huge.’ I remember seeing Thee Geraldine Fibbers there on a Monday night, playing to a crowd of 40 like they were headlining to a full house. They were my new favorite band from that moment on. And so it was an honor to be asked to play the Casbah 20th Anniversary and we decided to go for it.

Also, as it happened, Jimmy Eat World were setting up a 10 year anniversary tour for the Clarity record and they asked us to join them. We toured their Clarity and our Fire in the City records together when they came out in 1999. It was perfect timing. We wanted to join them for the whole tour but Chris’ wife is having a baby any day now and so we couldn’t be away for that long so we are doing LA, San Diego, and Arizona.

Are all four original members on for these shows?
Well, it is me, Brian, Ryan and Chris- the lineup for the last two records. We thought about asking Ike to play drums on some songs and Aaron to play guitar on some songs as well but it has been challenging to get our own schedules together enough to practice as it is.

What have you missed most in the five years since No Knife’s departure?
Sometimes I miss being on the road and meeting people in different cities- we really had some great experiences that I will remember forever; but what I miss the most is learning about sound and music and life from people that surrounded us- most significantly our road gurus Paul Drake and Gabe Voiles, and Greg Wales who did our last two recordings. All three of them opened my eyes to a lot of music and experiences that changed my perceptions of EVERYTHING. You can hear a lot of the progressions on our second, third, and fourth records. Paul got me into The VSS, Giant’s Chair, and Blonde Redhead. Gabe got me into Tortoise, The Sea And Cake, and Neil Young. Greg got me into The Birthday Party, Elvis Costello, and Killing Joke. He also got me into nice Neve consoles with API preamps and Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies card deck and the thrill of recording by improvisation, by trusting the process and going outside of comfort zones to get the best and weirdest takes. They all taught me in their own ways about fearless improvisation in all aspects of life- that there is some sort of current that exists out there in the world, that if you give yourself up to it, it will take you where you need to go. We met so many people that we wouldn’t have met had we not taken chances, asked from stage for a place to sleep instead of getting hotels, setting up impromptu house shows when we had too many days off, things like that. “Full sails shape the lives of men” as Greg would say…

What haven’t you missed?
Paul and Gabes’ maniacal driving and Greg’s spot-on “Aim for the nuts” underhand shoe pitching.

What’s a “normal day” like for Mitch Wilson without touring?
I get up at the cock’s crow, head for the barn and milk the cows before taking the tractor out the plow the fields. When the sun is at its highest point in the sky I like to eat lunch ‘neath the Sycamore tree next to the crik. After a long day in the fields I return to the barn to help old Bessie birth her calf and then I check the gopher traps on the way in to see what’s on for supper. I usually hope for biscuits, Shepherd pie and sweet tea. After, I like to put my feet up in front of the fireplace and puff my pipe. On Saturdays I take a bath.

Sometimes I whistle.

Your Myspace page is private, but am I to believe that you’re a dad now?
Yes, I have a nine month old son who’s changed my life forever. So far he likes Toots & the Maytals, The Smiths, and Martin Denny. He doesn’t like Orthrelm or Ethel Merman. He loves Yo Gabba Gabba and he hates sleeping. Actually, that is why we are doing reunion shows- to get the attention of the Yo Gabba Gabba folks. We all have kids now except for Ryan. We want to be on Yo Gabba Gabba!

What bands are you listening to these days?
Crocodiles, Kill Me Tomorrow, Tender Buttons, The Muslims, The Powerchords, The Widows, Grand Ole Party, The Sess, The Focus Group, Manuok, Thin Man, Syndicate, Irradio, Hostile Combover, Earthless, The Night Marchers, Wild Weekend, Some Girls, The Locust, Get Yr Death On, Years Around The Sun, The Tall Ships, Pocket, The Postals, Thee Old Palominos, Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects, The Hearthaches, Ryan Ferguson, Modern Rifles, Swim Party, AM Vibe, Fantastic Magic, Ye Olde Maids, Christmas Island, Spirit Photography- these are all San Diego bands you should have a listen to. Some you will love and some you will hate.

I recorded the Syndicate EP and Irradio “I Am The Horn” LP that will be out soon at the studio i work at called “Archival Sound.” I also mixed the Powerchords record and so got to hear it over and over and over again which is something I would recommend you doing as well!

What is the status of your other bands The Focus Group and Moonlife?
The Focus Group are still playing around a lot but I left the band after the UK tour in pursuit of more recording knowledge. I took some classes and recorded a few bands at my house. I interned at Big Fish studios under the mighty Ben Moore (Hot Snakes, Pocket, etc) for a year. I am in the process of mixing the new Focus Group album right now.

Moonlife LTD. is on hold but I intend to start it up again under a different name. There’s a synthy band out of Oakland who’ve gone by that name since the late 90s. I stole it from a Dali’s Car song. It was going to be music to play at late night after parties when you somehow end up in the bathtub with 5 of your friends. All the songs were going to reference the moon in some way and it was going to be very cheeky, bordering on ridiculous.

I also do an instrumental band with my wife, Jennipher, called Silver Ships. I play guitar and program the drums and she plays keyboards and other random instruments. I think it sounds like a mix between Robin Guthrie and Explosions in the Sky (only because we aren’t skilled enough to sound like Tristeza, haha!). We may put out something in the next year or so…

The other guys all have various irons in the fire as well. Brian has been playing bass for Get Yr Death On! and they have some songs coming out soon. They are kinda heavier, Sabbath-ish mixed with all those Lungfish Kyuss type bands that Brian goes mad for. http://getyourdeathon.com

Ryan has his solo stuff where he gets to stroke his inner Beatle. These songs are shimmery pop gems and you can check it out at http://www.fergusong.com He has done a lot of touring and will probably do a lot more in the coming years…

Chris is still playing with Pinback and he also did The Jade Shader with the late Terrin Durfey. From what I understand Terrin played a lot of unreleased tracks that Chris is trying to finish based on Rough recordings to honor Terrin’s memory. You can find out more about it at http://www.thejadeshader.com

And lastly, will you please make a tour stop in South Carolina for me?
That depends- can we sleep in your living room floor and use all of your hot water?

5 Responses to “Interview: No Knife”

1. 

   On 12/3/08 11:44 AM, Ryan @ Milkweed Records said:

   Great news and a great interview.

3. 

   On 12/4/08 12:36 AM, veeRob said:

   Great interview, but leaves so many questions unanswered! Will they play “Silver Springs” in Terrin’s honor? On the JEW shows, will they be playing Fire In The City in its entirety? Or even Hit Man Dreams?

5. 

   On 12/4/08 7:07 AM, Sean said:

   One of my all-time favorite bands!

7. 

   On 04/17/09 11:35 PM, Himself said:

   No Knife will be playing it’s last show (according to a recent interview with Ryan Ferguson) on June 18th 2009 @ the Belly Up Tavern in Solona Beach, Ca… the end.

9. 

   On 04/18/09 1:18 AM, Sean Cannon said:

   the end again. that hurts my heart. just when i thought there might be a chance i could see them…

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